THE SWISS CHALLENGE period for proposals to rehabilitate Marawi City is set to start next week, which will be the next step in determining which party will undertake the project, according to Task Force Bangon Marawi.
“There is a Swiss challenge. And the Swiss challenge will run for only three weeks. So starting May 26, we will know of any challenges,” Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council Chair Eduardo del Rosario told reporters on Tuesday. Mr. Del Rosario, who also chairs Task Force Bangon Marawi, added that the process of identifying the proponents will allow the task force’s work to move forward.
The unsolicited proposal for the rehabilitation program was submitted by a consortium of five Chinese and four domestic firms.
A Swiss challenge allows the government to solicit counter-proposals from competing firms, which the original proponent has the right to match.
After the Swiss challenge, Mr. Del Rosario said that the rehabilitation activities will begin on June 16 at the earliest.
“We expect to be done by December 2021. What they will do is work day and night.”
The Japanese government on Tuesday signed with the Philippine government a 2-billion yen (about P970 million) grant agreement for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi City.
Mr. Del Rosario said that the total rehabilitation program is expected to cost about P77 billion over a period of four years. Some P55 billion is for the repair of affected areas outside the main battleground, while P22 billion will go to the rehabilitation of ground zero.
He said once the government awards original proponent status, final costs will be available, because the proponents have yet to reach a consortium agreement and negotiate the division of labor and finalize costs for each project.
“Right now the costs are all estimates only,” Mr. Del Rosario said.
For this year, the Budget department has so far released about P10 billion towards Marawi rehabilitation projects.
Other funding sources for succeeding years are retail Treasury bonds, also known as Marawi bonds, and a possible “pledging session” for foreign donors. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

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